The Sorrow of Namek, Frieza's Return

BOOM! BOOM!

The spaceships of Vegeta and Cui landed on Namek one after the other.

Vegeta had come to teach Dodoria a lesson, for his combat power had now reached 24,000, while that fat pig Dodoria was only at 20,000.

Poor Dodoria had no idea he was being targeted by the Saiyan monkey; he was still busy on the front lines, charging into the fray and slaughtering Namekians one by one.

He had only one wish: for Frieza to return quickly!

He missed the days of basking in reflected glory; he would even settle for being a dog relying on his master's power!

At least he wouldn't be a real dog!

In the distance, a fierce battle broke out in the direction where Vegeta and Cui had landed, a scene that happened to be spotted by Dodoria, who was stationed at the front.

Ever since he had been thwarted by two brats who rescued a Namekian child, he had been searching for those little runts.

He didn't hesitate to tap his scouter, discovering one was Cui, with a combat power of 18,000!

The other felt somewhat familiar—it had to be Vegeta, also at 18,000! (in his suppressed state).

"Oho! So these two have come as well. I must teach them how to behave; at last, I can vent the frustration pent up in my heart!"

He only dared to let out a single laugh, for laughing repeatedly was the exclusive privilege of Lord Frieza!

A white shockwave erupted from his red body, and he flew toward the site of the battle at high speed.

Just as he arrived, Dodoria saw from afar that Vegeta had killed Cui with a single energy blast, and the data on his scouter suddenly spiked to 24,000!

This caused Dodoria to slam on the brakes, and he turned tail and ran without a backward glance!

Just kidding—he was here to show off his might, not to get beaten up.

"Don't you run, Dodoria! It is this Prince who shall finish you today!"

Vegeta unleashed his full strength, closing the distance to Dodoria with every passing second!

BANG!

Zarbon, with his long green hair tied in a braid, suddenly appeared and struck Vegeta with an elbow, sending him crashing into the ground.

At this moment, Zarbon had not yet transformed, and his combat power was only 21,000; he had only managed to strike Vegeta by relying on a sneak attack.

"Zarbon, your strength is lacking; that didn't hurt at all!"

Vegeta burst out from the ground, his body showing no signs of injury other than a bit of dust!

Zarbon was actually feeling quite aggrieved; he had originally been one of Lord Frieza's close associates, yet now he was reduced to being a mere leader of the vanguard fodder!

Now, even Vegeta, whom he had always looked down upon, was mocking him—how could he accept this!

"Ah!!! Vegeta, you are courting death!"

With a roar, Zarbon transformed!

He had been suppressed for too long and needed to release it!

Zarbon, who had been handsome if not exactly normal, transformed into a toad-faced creature, his muscles bulging all over his body.

He looked incredibly ugly and terrifying!

Furthermore, his combat power instantly soared to 29,000, which was 5,000 higher than Vegeta's!

AH! DADA-DADA-DADA!

After a flurry of ferocious attacks, Vegeta, despite giving his all, was still no match for the transformed Zarbon, who possessed vastly increased strength, and he was struck by punch after punch.

WAAH!

Vegeta spat out a mouthful of blood, his white aura vanished, and he fell into a dead faint!

Poor Vegeta had truly become "Tragedy-ta," beaten to the brink of death by Zarbon.

This scene was witnessed by Krillin and Gohan, who were hiding behind a rock, and they were both stunned!

They had arrived on Namek earlier than Vegeta, but upon landing, they had sensed so many evil auras that they dared not act rashly.

The only time they had moved was when they couldn't help themselves, and even then, it was just to rush out and save a child.

Now, seeing the powerful Vegeta beaten to a pulp, they were even more afraid to show their faces.

They could only hope that Son Goku would arrive on Namek soon to save them!

"Goku! Please hurry over here; Namek is so dangerous! Your best friend's legs are turning to jelly right now!"

"Dad! Where are you? I'm so scared!"

Bulma watched the laser beams streaking across the sky from time to time, and she felt completely overwhelmed!

And what was Son Goku doing at this moment?

Oh, he was wriggling like a maggot on his spaceship, aiming for a small bag not far away that contained a few Senzu Beans.

On the Ice Planet, there was nothing but cold—an endless, desolate ice field that made one's scalp tingle.

BANG!

Suddenly, the entire Ice Planet shuddered as a massive hole was blasted through the ice, with endless frigid winds howling out from within.

A figure emerged, standing roughly the same height as Son Goku, with a pale white complexion and patches of purple on his head and shoulders.

His pupils were blood-red and narrow, giving him an exceptionally eerie appearance.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho!"

"Activate Scout!"

"My combat power has reached 250 million. Not bad, not bad at all!"

"So, becoming stronger really is quite satisfying!"

"It's a pity, though; I still crave that other kind of satisfaction."

Rubbing his smooth, seamless, and featureless crotch, Frieza suddenly shot two red beams of light from his eyes.

Swish!

The Ice Planet was nearly sliced in two by Frieza.

Having barely vented the rage in his heart, Frieza took a communicator from his storage space, placed it on his ear, and let the glass lens cover his left eye.

"Damn it~ these ears are bizarre; they're actually rectangular. This is just absurd!"

Beep~ Beep-beep!

"Dodoria, where the hell have you crawled off to?"

Dodoria, who was currently flying toward King Cold's spaceship alongside Zarbon, suddenly froze.

This long-lost voice made him want to burst into tears of excitement.

Zarbon didn't know what kind of fit Dodoria was having, so he had to stop, annoyed, and ask.

"Hey, are you having a seizure? We need to hurry and take Vegeta back to King Cold!"

Dodoria ignored Zarbon, instead bowing ninety degrees toward the empty air, his posture perfectly standard.

"Lord Frieza! I am currently on Namek because King Cold wants to collect the Dragon Balls that can grant any wish!"

"Lord Frieza, my life has been so miserable! As your personal secretary and lackey, I've been reduced to a mere squad leader! Waaahhh~~~"

Hearing Dodoria's whimpering sobs, Frieza felt the hair on his body stand on end.

Or rather, he felt the sensation of it.

Because his entire body was slick and smooth, he didn't have a single hair to speak of.

However, upon hearing that King Cold was actually doing what he was supposed to be doing in the original story, he felt completely unsettled.

He had once owed a favor to the Grand Elder of Namek, and it hadn't even been that long, yet his nominal father had already gone and attacked them.

He didn't care whether the Namekians lived or died.

It was mainly that he felt King Cold was overstepping his bounds. Wouldn't it be better to just stay on the Ice Planet and enjoy fine wine and food?

Why did he have to come and force his way into the main plot? Who does he think he is!

Now that his combat power had doubled, as long as he had two seconds, he could definitely one-shot King Cold.

One had to remember that Trunks, who came from the future, was about the same strength as he was now—if one had to put a number on it, it would be around 240 million.

Since Future Trunks could kill King Cold, there was no reason he couldn't do the same!

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! So, the first opponent I, Lord Frieza, will face after my return to the world is my own nominal father!"

"Righteousness over family—bah, it should be 'kill the father to appease the heavens, and your power will be boundless'!"

"That's not quite right either. Since I use Ki here, it should be 'power of Ki is boundless'!"

"Sigh, it's a pity this power can't be used for that other thing. If it could, it would be perfect!"

"Damn you, Akira Toriyama! You heartless bastard!"